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Wow such a lot to write about today; I am unable to come up with a creative title so here you are getting the whole mish-mash of what has been going on as I wanted to touch on a few issues today.

The past weeks I have been focusing more on finding myself and my path in my career; I have been writing, researching, and putting some great plans and programmes together for work. Soon Deirdre (my fabulous assistant) and I will be joined by Emma; who will be acting as my second in command on nutrition, and will be working with a lot of you in the coming months.

This is very exciting; I am busy putting more structure on the information that we shall be giving you. To be honest, until now far too much of it has been in my head and not enough of it on paper; so I am doing my best to put a lifetime of learning and work into simple and concise information for you all to guide you along in finding your optimal diet for healing, health, and energy.

Having Emma to take the reins on some of my nutrition work, will allow me to write more programmes, lectures and seminars, and to keep a better eye on the research. Also I will be taking my focus more to the initial consultations (where all the detective work about what is going on happens), chronic complex cases, specialist athlete cases, and much more into the area of healing. So even though it may feel like I am stepping back, I will actually be stepping it up to take my expertise and ability to support and heal to an even more comprehensive and thorough level.

“Even though it may feel like I am stepping back, I will actually be stepping it up to take my expertise and ability to support and heal to an even more comprehensive and thorough level.”

This excites me! Creating programmes for clients takes a great deal of time and effort as I like to bring the information from my heart as well as from the science and experience that I have gained in my career. It is all great to copy the information as we learn it; adding experience takes being in a highly creative mode.

Taking time out, and creating changes in a business that results in one seeing less clients or being less financially productive can put a huge strain on finances (and sanity) when you are self-employed. Sometimes it feels like everything is falling apart instead of it being an exciting time of change and forward momentum.

It is very important to focus your energy on the creative process and what you are CREATING rather than the lack of money or certainty and getting paralysed in the smaller details or financial worry. The former encourages the flow of energy, creativity and productivity and the latter creates fear, blocks, and procrastination. I know it can be a challenge to stop your head running ahead of itself into future scenarios and what ifs, however it is crucial to focus your energy on the here and now, and when you do look forward visualize your goals and why you are doing this to keep the fires of productivity lit.

This is a personal challenge for me also; however in general I do a good job at keeping positive, believing in the work that I do, and what I am trying to achieve, who I am trying to help, and why this matters to me so much; and apart from the odd crisis of confidence I sail a steady ship.

I can only appreciate how times must be challenging for persons who are unhappy in employment or persons facing redundancy. Times are rapidly changing and I am noticing a lot of inner conflict and frustration within my clients as they no longer ‘feel right’ in their current jobs or careers. They know that what they are currently doing no longer resonates with who they are as a person, and it no longer feels like something that is in line with their personal, professional and spiritual desires and goals.

This is especially so in the more cut-throat and ruthless industries where bosses and employees seems to have lost their moral compass and ethics. Suddenly it feels unbearable to work in this environment. Many people however, are not quite willing or ready to embrace that change must occur; a part of you knows, and the other part of you suppresses this. So when the mind puts its head in the sand the body then kicks out with anxiety, panic attacks, fear, anger, fatigue, chronic fatigue, throat problems, depression, and avoidance tactics such as over-eating, over-exercise, watching too much TV, drinking, taking medication or drugs, taking it out on others or completely dissociating from themselves.

“So when the mind puts its head in the sand the body then kicks out with anxiety, panic attacks, fear, anger, fatigue, chronic fatigue, throat problems, depression, and avoidance tactics such as over-eating, over-exercise, watching too much TV, drinking, taking medication or drugs, taking it out on others or completely dissociating from yourself.”

This is not a fun place to be in at all; and if you ignore what your soul and inner guidance is trying to tell you, you may continue to be stuck in this cycle for longer than feels bearable. OR you can decide to listen to what your intuition is trying to tell you and take a leap of faith.

I know this is scary. But I truly believe, and see, that the universe will support you as you start to follow your heart. Also once you set your heart on something, things start to fall into place. I am not saying that there is a utopia out there where everything is wonderful and things never go wrong. But when you start to follow your heart and inner guidance and dig in deep within to ask yourself what is it that I really want to be doing, the path becomes smoother. There will be bumps along the way, rise above them as much as you can and see the lesson in them. Everything makes you stronger, and nothing is bigger than you can handle.

“When you start to follow your heart and inner guidance and dig in deep within to ask yourself what is it that I really want to be doing, the path becomes smoother.
There will be bumps along the way, rise above them as much as you can and see the lesson in them.
Everything makes you stronger, and nothing is bigger than you can handle.”

This is Ester Hicks channelling Abraham with some good advice on careers. Yes it may be a bit far out for some people; sit with it.

So yes finances can be a little tight as I choose to sit back into creating more for my work; however it is astounding all the amazing things that life presents when I focus on being grateful, happy, and content and when I avoid getting stuck in worry. People, yes strangers, keep giving me little presents and acts of kindness; it is so beautiful.

Two days ago I was thrilled to bits to be offered a super deal at Rene Cusack’s (fish mongers on the Dock Road) for my fish; and not only that, he was offering me whole frozen wild salmon (yes wild and whole) at the cost price of farmed. I almost took four on the spot, however he insisted I came back later in the week, once he had a time to defrost the fish, fillet and gut it, and on the condition I only took one to check that I was happy with it. For those of you who know your salmon, wild salmon is hard to find and when you find it is very expensive. I was offered a WHOLE salmon for fifteen euro!!

So today I was back at Rene Cusack’s to collect my fish. I am a chatty person. And because I tend to step out with a sense of intrigue I often find that the places I go to and the conversations that I end up drawn into, are never quite random. So when the fish monger started to tell me about his colleague being out ill with food poisoning and as I was offering advice, the other customer in the shop jumped into our conversation saying that she was the very person that needed to hear my advice. She had been ill ever since a bad food poisoning incident in Turkey a few years ago. Well isn’t she lucky that this is my speciality! Isn’t it nice to think that I was able to then help two people AND get this; the fish monger gave me the whole filleted and gutted wild salmon FREE! And he threw in two free lemons and a bag of salad.

Whatever lucky stars are shining down on me, please know that I am grateful 🙂

I am a big fan of paying it forward. I was in Delish Café (great food by the way and Coeliac friendly) in Castletroy last week and lovely Lorrayne gave me a coffee on the house, and as I went out the door shouted “pay it forward”. It got me thinking about my actions that week. Already that week I had stopped to give a young man a lift (FYI never do this if you are female and driving alone; I never stop my car and couldn’t even believe I had my foot on the brake to stop and give this man a lift. I had stopped the car before I realised what I was doing). It turns out that this young man was a heroin addict on methadone treatment. How did I know? I just knew; call it a lifetime of living and also many years working a pharmacist. I am fortunate too that I see everyone as a person with a life and a story; who am I to judge and my gut just knew that I would be ok, but I did say a prayer all the same!

So, given the knack I have where people feel safe to talk with me, it wasn’t long before he was spilling his life out to me. I was meant to give this man a lift, I knew I would be ok and I hope that, after I went the extra distance to drop him to his destination, he felt a greater sense of belief in himself. So, please give a 2 seconds thought to this young man, who did kick heroin before and due to life not going well for him ended up back on it and is now dealing with it again. He is a person like you and me, with fears and anxieties, more than most of us. He is doing his best to get clean in a country with very little in the way of support to do so. As he accurately said, he would get into the system faster if he committed a crime and went to prison…. Yes that was prayer number two, that the crime wouldn’t be in my car, on me, and my possessions :-).

Also last week a lady asked me was I a student in UL; yes I did smile at this question. I could see that she needed to talk, and my “no”, didn’t leave much of an opening for her. So I offered an opening and we spent a good forty minutes chatting about her career crossroads. I sincerely hope that my advice helped. I feel it did and am grateful for the meeting. There is always a lesson for us in these situations also. I was only grateful that perhaps my journey meant I was able to help her.

So I had already paid if forward when I was offered the free coffee; twice!

Pay it Forward – have you watched this inspirational film?

Do you spend time to be grateful and considerate in your day? Do you stop to smile at people, or engage in conversation? The true wealth of life passes you by every moment. And when we get caught up on the frantic pace of life we miss all these golden nuggets and furthermore, the chances to help those in need.

Even today, I had a lot on my mind and went to the café to focus on some work (with my frozen salmon on ice in the boot!) and ended up bumping into Gerard Hartmann. We had a great chat for an hour. Gerard is someone who although I am unsure if he is aware of it, immersed me into the world of sports nutrition and gave me THE LUCKIEST BREAK EVER when I was privileged to work with Sonia O’Sullivan and the rest is history :-). Yes I didn’t get my work done, but I did get to have a meaningful chat and I see this as time gifted to me.

Samphire is oft found on fancy plates in gourmet restaurants and is delicious and ever so healthy. It is full of iodine, minerals, and chlorophyll for a start. It is a powerful antioxidant and a good one for the menu if you are on a health campaign. I steamed mine (after washing) for a few minutes and then added a dash of butter. Don’t salt it, it is naturally salty and should have a bit of crunch to it when served.

Finally, I just wanted to touch on the number of gastro bugs going around currently, quite serious ones at that. Even friends and family have been hit quite hard. Despite people saying it’s a hospital bug and making it seem like something normal it is an infection (aka food poisoning or gastroenteritis). These infections are usually transmitted by facial-oral route through food, water, or poor hygiene. I always test patients which have been sick with this in the near or distant past, to determine the exact cause and treatment, as not treating the microbe/ parasite can lead to a myriad of illnesses like fatigue, brain fog, poor training, food allergies, cramping, bloating, wind, insomnia or needing nothing but sleep, IBS, Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, gastric ulcers, joint or muscle pain, poor appetite, depression, etc. and just not feeling right.

In my experience from reading test results many herbs and drugs are often resistant (don’t work) this why I always test and then treat accordingly. I don’t rely on lab work here as they don’t screen for all potential pathogens nor do they do sensitivity profiles to check which treatments work; so I use expert labs in the UK and USA. The good news is, when you are in the right hands, the treatment is simple.

Should you come down, keep hydrated, avoid dairy and gluten containing foods and keep things simple with for example chicken broth or stock, rice, gluten-free oats, banana and blueberries. Herbs like garlic, rosemary, oregano, and thyme can also be helpful and there are many potent herbs to treat the cause too. I always travel with Grapefruit seed extract and probiotics when going abroad; just in case! However some bugs can require a stronger approach should you be unlucky. I have only touched on some recommendations here, I urge you to speak to an appropriately qualified nutritional therapist trained in functional medicine, a herbalist and perhaps also enlist the support of an energy worker.

I just wanted to add one observation to bring this blog to a close. When we have stomach issues, it can in energy terms relate to things that we are unable to digest in life. So it is important here to examine what could this be? People? Our thoughts? Are we not facing up to the fact that we yearn change?